"I used to have a life before The Colorless"

What are you reading?

Recently i just finish reading this, For All the Tea in China. It was quite a good read on how a Scottish botanist Robert Fortune manage to steal the tea plant from China and kickstart the tea industry for India and the rest of the empire!

Currently reading Catcher in the Rye. I'm half way through, and not too sure how I feel about it. I'm having a bit of difficulty seeing where the plot is going, if there is one, and the protagonist is, well, kind of a little bitch.
I do however enjoy how characterized Caufield is by his diction and the use of teenage colloquial speech. I can relate to him, especially cause of themes like agnst, and the inability to deeply connect with others. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone struggling with sadness or depression since the narrative is so depressing itself. Or as caufield would say, it makes you kinda feel crumby and sad and all. It really does.
All in all I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

So yeah, probably most of you saw the movie. Well, it's made after 2011 novel, which I am reading right now. Actually, I am kinda alternating between reading and listening to audio-book, depending on circumstances, but anyways.
You know the story - Mark Watney, stranded on Mars, yadda-yadda-yadda. It made nice movie, right? Right.

Well, as you would expect from a book, it's much more detailed, obviously. There are some episodes that are more extended. And while it's going about the same as I remember from movie, right now I am at the part where Watney is preparing to start his final journey towards the launch site... and remember how it was like almost the last part of the movie? Well, there's still almost a whole third of the book left at this point, so yeah. Also, minor details are different... so I find myself wondering how it ends.
Writing style is peculiar. Most of the book is Mark Watney's logs, in first-person. However, after a while, book starts changing between those and your regular third-person story, describing NASA shenanigans, flashbacks and stuffs. At times it feels a bit weird. Like, there was time when logs were cut by short parts of a story about manufacture and deployment of part of Mars base. It wasn't bad writing, but felt a bit out of place... generally, it felt like at times writer is trying out new stuffs in his style to see if it works.
However, to hell with style. The real issue is the content. And it is really good. This is science fiction. Meaning it's not like space fantasy. Here everything has explanation. Actually, a fuckton of it. Long-ass technically-sounding stuff, which is still easy enough for most readers to follow. And it's surprisingly not boring. Mostly because of the other thing this book has a lot of: humor.

I am smiling a great smile. The smile of a man who fucked with his car and didn’t break it.

--Mark Watney after remodeling Mars rover.

Yes, book has swearing. Quite a lot of it, actually, but considering the situation, it is justified for emphasis. And while it could be like a very serious thriller book, it's style makes it more of a survival adventure, which is much more light-themed, while still being very much serious.

You know, I am not a fan of superhero comics. Not mainstream ones, at least. To properly follow those you have to be a maniac with entirely too much time on your hands. However, I do enjoy, at times, works that involve supers, but have exact and finite story. Like "The Boys" or, for example, "Watchmen". Additionally, if you know those works, you will know that those provide somewhat unusual look at supers.
Well, that's pretty much what this book is all about. Far as I can tell, it's a comics book story, but in a novel form. No pictures, a lot of reading.Not a bad thing in itself.

In the setting of the book, something happened to Earth, so supers - called Epics in the book - started appearing. But the thing about them is that every single one of them turned evil. No superheroes, only super-villains. They all went to grab for power, which resulted in a semi-apocalyptic scenario. Some areas were completely destroyed, some cities retained structure, but now under the rule of epics as tyrants with unlimited rule.
Main hero of the book, when he was a child, had his father killed by an epic that became the ruler of what was formerly known as Chicago, and that drove him to spend all his life planning to kill that epic. For that he joins human organization assassinating epics one by one. That's pretty much where the story starts.

So, let's be fair here. This is a young adults book. There's enough violence, but swearing is switched for other words, which makes it sound silly at times, and the story goes in a quite predictable way. At least in first book. This one is part of trilogy called "The Reckoners".
I also have to point out right here right now that I dislike the main character. He's a sort of Marty Sue type of character - obviously, influencing everything around him, taking huge risks and always winning and saving the day, even though he's just a 18 y.o. teenager. I dislike that. Additionally, it seems the author thinks that giving characters quirks is akin to giving them personality, and main character's quirk is that he makes absolutely horrible metaphors. Which ,let me tell you, gets old really fucking fast.

So, why did I read the goddamn book, you ask, if I didn't like all that? I actually enjoyed the setting. See, the idea that, if supers would appear, they would just grab for power like complete idiots, which would ruin all governments and most of the planet... I like that idea. It's actually more realistic than idea of heroes and villains fighting each other while leaving humans relatively alone.
While the story goes along, the book describes changes of Chicago, and the epic-based ruling structure. And, with some plot twists revealed along the way, it actually makes sense. So, while the main character of the book is pretty crappy, I believe a lot of work and thought was put into imagining the world of this book.

All in all, it's a mixed bag. Some stuff is bad, some stuff is good. But it's entertaining enough and it's a new experience for me - proper novel about supers. I think I may try picking up next book of it, too.

I barely remember what happened now because I had to give the book back. I'll get it from her someday but 'til then I've postponed reading this book.

Kinda useless when it comes to making reviews so here www.goodreads.com/book/show/18295852-the-geography-of-you-and-me to make up for my inability to make a good review ;_; The book has bad ratings, but since I'm not one to go with whatever I'm given I'd rather read it myself. So if any of you are kind enough to give me a really early christmas present, just send this book to my zone's guard. We can work out the details through pm c;

So, this is a follow-up to my previous post. Finished all the books - 3 proper books and 1 short story that goes between book 1 and book 2.

First of all - this is really not books for my age. I am too old for that kind of story. However, I did finish it, so that says something.

Story of all 3 books is similar - in each of them protagonist must fight some or other major epic, who rules some or other major city. Each city is different, because of how epics changed them with their powers, so, while the premise is always the same, backgrounds do vary. And, closer to the end, more and more of a global story starts to get in.

Things I disliked:
Main character. Yes, main character haven't redeemed himself since the first book. Well, maybe it's just me, but I rarely can find a main character of young adult fiction that can be likable.
Parallel dimensions. Somewhere along the way they start using that theme, and... You know, it's a bit similar to time-travel. It's really hard to do right. It's not done too bad here, but... not too good either.
Ending feels rushed. Global storyline is resolved right at the end of the last book, and it feels very deus ex machina. Very rushed, forced, whatever... Can't say more because it would be spoilers.

What I liked:
Tactics. In essence, it's a book about group of non-powered humans using wit and tech to kill superpowered fucks. And it's done alright. There's tactical planning, there's execution... well, things usually go horribly wrong, but still, it has tactical sense to it.
I did find a character that I liked. Minor character of the story, but yeah, it's important to like someone from the cast.
Setting is solid though all the books. It's not overly detailed, but every city gets pretty good exposition. Plus, on a global scale, workings of the world ravaged by supers is well-explained. I made a point of it before, but yes, it is an interesting setting that obviously took some thinking over.

All in all - this is alright for young adult novels in superhero genre.

It's about a machine that allows people to travel in a direction that is neither forwards, backwards, left or right, granting whoever is using it access to an endless chain of other Earths. The series has a main character and a main plot, but it's mostly side stories about many people's experience in the long earth to add more depth to the story. There are hostile 'stepping' creatures migrating towards the original Earth, new psychological disorders / stepping sicknesses and a mysterious entity far along the chain of worlds calling people towards it.

The novel "Night" was written by Elie Wiesel, a Jewish boy who survived the Holocaust. Yes, that Holocaust. The story was about his experiences before, during and after the Holocaust. How was his life when he was working in the concentration camps; the journey from one camp to another; the days and nights where he struggled to survive along with his father, etc. But, unlike any other fantasy/adventure book you've been reading, this happened in the real world. Deaths here were permanent, and decisions were made on the spot, which made them survive BARELY up until the end, where a twist of fate and a test of Elie's spirit happened.

Teach said it's a powerful book that she recommend every person to read, and, yeah, it is indeed powerful. That, or I'm just agreeing to her words so that I won't be sent to the office.

Overall, I'm looking forward for the ending. I've been spoilered by the questionnaires though. Still, I'm not fond of reading books and all, but maybe, just maybe, somewhere deep inside me, I'm satisfied and content that I've read a book like this. Quite a nice change of pace too.

The day that Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school is also the day a series of brutal murders breaks out over the city, killings mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper spree of more than a century ago. Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him--the only one who can see him. And now Rory has become his next target. But Rory has gained an ability in her time in London--and this ability will change the direction of her life and introduce her to London's most secret police force.

I found out this book has a series- and this one Im currently reading is the 2nd book D: (shame on me) Anw, planning to find the other 3 books after I finish reading this one and when school year ends. :D

If you are aware, there's a movie of it, starring, of course, the recent winner of the Oscar Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio. And Tom Hanks. If you're not the book type, then this movie is for you. However, since I am forced to read a 295+ pages by a teacher, not to mention some of the events in the books didn't appeared in the movie, I really can't do anything about it.

Regardless of what you'll choose, taken from the back cover of the book:

Frank Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Manjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, impostors, and escape artists in history. During his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as a supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks - all before he was twenty-one.

Oh, and this isn't a fiction or those books where one man falls in love with a women, break up blah blah blah. This is a true story of a real fake. His adventure around the world, his escapes, his little things he had did - it was all real.

Now, I'm not fond of reading books nor watching movies. If I was forced, I would choose either, depending on the length/time to finish it. I must say, like the 'Night' book, I'm impressed and interested the moment he swindled his own father by $3,000. Heh. And over the course of these 295 pages, I had to re-read twice or thrice to get it (or get the answers for this question), but the things he had done in either for is own selfish reasons, or to just get away from an predicament, were the best moments for me.

It's a nice change of pace too. Night was all powerful and all horrifying, yet enticing, and this book is humorous and captivating.

I'm currently reading The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic. It is the first instalment of the All for the Game YA series. The plot revolves around a fictional sport, Exy. It explores how runaway Neil Josten's sticky situation ties in with the dark pasts of the other team players.

At a glance, the plot sounds pretty cliche. The rub lies in the character development. For reasons currently beyond me, this novel baffles me. That's why I'm re-reading it for the third time.

In addition to the P-38, There are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was--that I couldn't stick around--and that what's going to happen isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he will kill his former best friend, then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol. Maybe one day he'll believe that being different is okay, important even. But not today.

I personally think this is a good book, although I haven't finished it yet. I have this habit of highlighting good sentences in novels, and if I were to do the same to this book, I would just be coloring the whole book. Lmao.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

These novels are controversial. Andromeda of My Sister's Keeper is a test tube baby who repeatedly donates to her leukaemia-suffering sister. Faith of Keeping Faith (duh) sees a female God. Jamie of Mercy has euthanised his terminal wife–a mercy killing.

Picoult's prose feels like poetry. Every scene is meaningful. Personally, I empathised with most of her characters even if they were very different from me in real life. Her approach towards these controversial issues are as inoffensive as possible. They offer no conclusion to a debate.

I recommend giving her a read, if just to be amazed by her clean writing.

I just finished reading "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams:

It's about Blanche DuBois visiting her sister, Stella DuBois and her husband, Stanley Kowalski. She stayed at their home, which has two rooms, and is divided by just a curtain. As the story progresses, the readers/viewers observes the personality of the trio, and since Blanche is staying at Stanley's "territory", we see them go toe-to-toe. The viewers will find out why Blanche doesn't like the day, why she's fantasizing all the time, why her attitude is like a flirtatious women, and at the end, she's just another sensitive women who wants a man that has kindness.

See "sexually promiscuous". That's pretty much Blanche.

Overall, if it weren't for those classmates of mine that volunteer to act out as the characters, I would've totally liken this one. But meh, it's a nice way to start the semester...

Nah fuck you, presentation.

STELLA!!! STEEEEEEELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

"The Glass Castle"

Written by Jeannette Walls, it is a memoir of the nomadic family life of her childhood.

With her family, they go from one place to another place just to find a place to live in and adapt and get money. The book, as a whole, rekindles her adventures when she was young, what big things happened, what she remembers that is a big thing, and transforms from this kid who dreamed of going places with the whole family, to this girl who wanted to escape poverty. With her goals set, and her siblings ready, one by one, they went to New York City in order to carry out their dreams. And when the last child went to New York (there are 4), their parents head out to NYC as well.

(Just like how every 18-year-old teenager want to separate from his/her parents. It's bound to happen. I know, I'm scared as well.)

She was neither the smartest (the older sis), nor the bravest (the brother), nor the prettiest (the younger sis) among the siblings. She was the hardworking one, and adding all the three characteristics mentioned. She's also the favorite of her Dad - both of them are determined, quick-witted, inventive and creative. Throughout the story, she is shown to be the head of the family, in case both of her parents are gone. And through thick and thin, she succeeded. Yet, her mom pointed out that her values are all over the place, indicating that she shouldn't be ashamed of where she came from, and who her mother is. After all, she found a place where she belongs.

Why this one though? I really don't like the other choice - Fallen Angels, because it's about Vietnam War. I have enough books that tackle about wars, and that was Night from last year. Frankly, when my teacher introduce the book that it's about a girl who is driving to New York City, I really didn't expect it to be a book about her childhood adventure. What a liar. Give it a go. It's only 300+ pages. It's a very nice and heartwarming story, and I like stories and mangas that have adventures in it.